5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t File for Bankruptcy

In fact, filing for bankruptcy could be the worst thing you could do..

The #1 Reason People file Bankruptcy: Unpaid Medical Bills

According to Snopes.com the number one reason people file for bankruptcy is because of medical bills. Approximately 643,000 thousand American’s file bankruptcy because of medical debt each year. If you do have tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid medical debt that you could never pay off, it makes sense to just file bankruptcy, right? Most people would say yes, but there is another option that is way better, and cheaper!

How Collection Agencies Get Your Debt

When you fail to pay a bill, eventually the creditor will sell the debt to a third party collection agency. They make money by collecting more on the debt than they paid for it. Which is easy because collection companies buy debt for just pennies on the dollar. They will call, send letters, and may even report the delinquent account to the Credit Bureaus. It may seem like the only way out is to file for bankruptcy?

What would happen if you just didn’t pay?

What if you just ignored the calls and letters? Would the creditor sue you? No. It’s very very highly unlikely a debt collector would sue a consumer over an unpaid medical debt that they paid a fraction of the amount owed. They have tens of thousands of other consumers that are willing and able to make payments. The calls and letters will continue to come.

1. You can stop all calls and letters from collection agencies

You can stop calls and letters from creditors and collection agencies by write a letter. In the letter state that you no longer wish to receive calls or letters pertaining to the debt you allegedly owe. Send the letter via certified mail with a return receipt. The collection company must stop all calls and letters according to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. If they continue to do so, you can file a complaint with the FTC

2. Collection agencies are unlikely to sue

The collection agency didn’t sustain the loss, they only paid a fraction of the amount owed. Why would they invest the time, resources, and money into trying to collect on one account?

This is why collection agencies rarely sue consumers. The same holds true for most any other collection account. If you do get sued over unpaid debt, it is usually by the original creditor when their is a high unpaid balance. Such as owing $15,000 to Bank of America.

If they do sue you, contact them to see if you can work out a settlement. They are very likely to work with you and will potentially allow you to pay less than what they claim you owe. As opposed to hiring an attorney and paying court costs, etc. They really don’t want to do that.

3. Filing for Bankruptcy Doesn’t Help Your Credit at All

When you file for bankruptcy you’re giving your credit the death penalty. The bankruptcy and all of the accounts included in the bankruptcy will appear on your credit report for the next 7 years. Even a few years down the road creditors will see you as high risk.

You’ll have a hard time getting new lines of credit, or loans for many years. Most people understand this, however they’re told they have no other options and that they have to file bankruptcy if they can’t pay their debts. False!

4. Your credit will recover faster if you don’t file bankruptcy

If you do not file for bankruptcy and just ignore the collection agencies, the credit damage you suffer will actually be less than filing for bankruptcy. Unpaid delinquent accounts are just as bad for your score as delinquent accounts that are included in a bankruptcy are. In fact, accounts included in bankruptcy are far worse than a regular unpaid collection.

You may think that $50,000 worth of collection debt is what is hurting your score and by filing bankruptcy that unpaid debt will go from $50,000 to 0. It’s true the balances will show a zero balance, however unpaid collection debt is not included in the credit scoring algorithm.

Should I file bankruptcy or not

Let’s look at two scenarios.

Joe and Mark both have 15 accounts that are in collections with a total unpaid balance of $50,000. Joe decides to file bankruptcy, he hires a good attorney for $3,000 and files for a chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Mark decides not to file bankruptcy, and instead disputes the negative accounts with the Credit Bureaus. Mark is able to get 8 of the collections removed from his credit report.

Who do you think is in a better credit situation in 2 years? Joe, who has 15 collection accounts and filed bankruptcy with bankruptcy marks all over his report. Or Mark, who has 7 unpaid collection accounts that are 2 years old, but no bankruptcy? It’s Mark. Clearly.

The Credit Bureau has 30 days to contact the creditor and verify the accuracy of the account. If they are not able to validate the item, it must be removed from your credit report entirely. Paying off collections doesn’t help your credit score at all. But, having a collection removed from your report will have a positive impact on your score.

If they do ignore it, the Credit Bureau will remove the collection account. In my experience about 50%-60% of all medical collections can be removed by disputing them.

Credit counseling or debt settlement as an alternative to bankruptcy

DMP, or debt management program, is also known as Credit counseling

Credit counseling is for people who have credit card debt that has not yet been sent to collections. These companies claim to be non-profit but they are not. They charge a monthly administrative fee for each account in the program. They will contact your creditors and negotiate lower interest rates and work out a payment plan. However, this is something you can do on your own. For free.

Debt settlement

This is for people with large amounts of collections and medical bills. The debt settlement company will negotiate a settlement for less than the amount you owe. You will pay between 10%-15% of the total amount owed. Typically these companies will cut the amount owed in half. However, this is something you can do on your own as well.

Paying off collections does not improve your credit scores because the collection accounts will remain on your report. They will just show a zero balance and a status of paid. The amount and the status is not a factor in your credit score, the collection account itself is all the algorithm takes into consideration.

Pros and Cons Bankruptcy

Advantages of Bankruptcy

No longer legally required to repay debt

The collection calls and letters stop

No stress over possibly getting sued

You’re not liable to pay taxes on forgiven debts

Disadvantages of Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy appears on your credit report for 7 years

May have to repay up to 50% of debt if a Chapter 7 isn’t granted

Negative accounts will show “Included in Bankruptcy”

Negative accounts still appear on your report and hurt your score

Credit score will drop significantly

Could cost thousands of dollars to hire a bankruptcy attorney

Will not be able to obtain new credit for years after a bankruptcy

When filing for bankruptcy is a good idea

There are situations in which filing for bankruptcy is a good idea. If you have lots of unpaid debts with large banks, like Capital One, Chase, etc. These big banks can and will sue you over large unpaid debts, because they have the resources and they suffered the full loss. If you have many accounts owned by big banks, bankruptcy may be a great option. Or if you’re facing foreclosure, liens, etc. bankruptcy could help you.

Should I file bankruptcy?

This depends on your situation. If you are facing major legal matters like judgements, liens, foreclosures, etc. then filing bankruptcy may be your best option and you should speak to a bankruptcy attorney.

If you a facing unpaid medical bills or other collection accounts then bankruptcy is not always the best answer. Collection agencies are unlikely to sue and you can get away without paying them. You can also dispute the collection accounts and have good success getting them removed from your credit report.

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